A Little About Me

Blogging ain't easy. I think that's how the saying goes. Well, it's actually not all that difficult. Anyone can do it. Writing things that people genuinely care about, that's the challenge. So for today I've decided it'd be better if I got a little personal with you guys. I'm Squall. Yes, that's what I go by on and, most the time, off the internet, with a few deviations. It's actually derived (somewhat) from my actual name. I'm a student at Florida State University. You know, the college that used to be good at football. Interests include women, the occasional drink, video games, creative writing (kind of a new thing for me), technology in general, and I can now add blogging to that list. This is the end of spring break, and its sad. I've been playing a game called Final Fantasy XIII the past week, and it's been a blast, however I have gotten so caught up in that reality, as soon as I jumped back into this one, I was a little disappointed.

School begins tomorrow. I'm writing a poem in which I have no idea what to write. Perhaps I'll share it eventually. For now though, this post will hopefully serve as a positive distraction for my writer's block.

The Sony Wii

Ain't she a beaut? Sony's answer to Wii's success, and it is still very much a mystery on how this whole thing is going to pan out. I think at this point, it will be tough for Microsoft or Sony to dethrone Wii from it's motion controlled throne. There is a whole lot to be said about being first.

So apparently the tech is much better than the "wiimote". I wish I could get a hands-on but I'm not special enough. It does look sleeker. It may have extra curricular purposes....It's powered by bluetooth, much like Wii's baby, except Nintendo was smart and let their nunchuck connect directly into the remote. Sony uses bluetooth for both controllers, and because of that, only two pairs of dildo/nunchuck can be used at one time. It's quite limiting, and a strange decision on Sony's part. A big selling point about motion controls is that they offer pretty fun parties. Who doesn't love watching their friends flail their arms around like gorillas? It just seems strange, and I wouldn't be surprised to see it fixed.

Nintendo has released a lot of shovelware as a result of the Wii's entrance into the mainstream. If you keep digging however, you'll find some real gems, made even better by the motion controls. The Metroid games are a great example. The Conduit is another. Sony can learn a thing or two from these shooters. I'd be shocked if they released a big name like Resistance or Killzone exclusively for the Move device, but it would offer a nice alternative. 

I'm not sure how I feel about Sony and MSoft's move into the mainstream motion control realm. I don't think it'll be as big of a payoff as they hope. Sony really stuck to the script, releasing what seems to be a sleeker counterpart to Wii's remotes. At least Microsoft is releasing something new altogether. I'll let you know about how I feel about Project Natal another night. For now, I'm off!

The iPad

 

The iPad. Apparently a "beast of a machine" (courtesy of Engadget), it has received a nice chunk of controversy since it's release. It's been dubbed such names as "an oversized iPod Touch" and "$500 iPhone". Here's my honest opinion:

I think this thing is going to be huge.

Ok, so sure, it really is just a huge iPod. But also, it's a much more powerful iPod capable of getting AT&T's 3G plan (at a generous price I must admit.) The iPhone can do things like email, and can serve as a decent portable e-reader, but the iPad will do these things much better. Not to mention the fact that it already has access to 150,000 apps, and I can't wait to see what these guys develop for this device. With its new size and power, I'd expect some interesting apps to be out in the near future.

I'm not an Apple freak by any means. My purchase of the iPad will be one of my first Apple buys. I can see an iPhone/iPod Touch owner being a little wary of this machine at first, and that's their call. But for people like me, who has never owned either of them, I personally think this is a must-buy for me. This will fill in my netbook hole in my life.

I've always been interested in the Kindle. With the release of the Kindle DX, it seems as if it is the definitive e-book. I do think you get what you pay for here. The Kindle is great for long sit downs, as the screen's e-ink doesn't strain the eyes, unlike the backlit LCD of the iPad. But the Kindle DX is sitting at a heavy $489. That's only $10 cheaper than the cheapest iPad. Granted, the cheapest iPad doesn't have 3G. The cheapest 3G iPad with 3G support will sit at $629. Tack on the extra $15 a month for a limited 3G plan, plus free usage of a crap ton of Wi-Fi zones, you got yourself a worthy opponent in the e-reader realm. Yes, it's $120 bucks more, but I think the fact that people are missing here is that it does much more than just e-books. Much, much more. 

So yes, I will be buying the iPad, most likely the 3G one. I'll most definitely post a blog (possibly a video) of my iPad unboxing when I get it. Cheers!

A Purpose Driven Blog

I didn't make this very clear in my first blog post. Although I don't have any one specific focus with this blog (it's all still very new to me), I realize that people are only going to want to read the things I write if I write something relevant to what they experience. (that was wordy) I enjoy electronics. I enjoy the constant flaming wars people wage when they think their electronic is better than yours. Whether it be Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, Apple, Pepsi, Coke...there is always someone with boxing gloves in the corner waiting to duke it with their words.

And I completely understand it.

I, too, am I fanboy. I'll reveal my preferences eventually, and while I strive to own every cool piece of technology out there, I still defend some things over others.

So if I ever do get readers on here, don't ask the question: "Hey. Why do you always talk about video games and iPods?"

If you do I'll e-smack you, and tell you to read this very important post.

E-smack [ee-smak] v
1. Expressing the emotion of frustation due to ignorance by using violence over the internet through words, with the goal of making that individual your b***ch.
2. Using the palm of your hand to hit your computer when it's running slow.

"This Is My First Time"

There's no topic or underlying theme with this post. This is just me. Getting used to writing to absolutely no one (at least now). Maybe one day someone will stumble here, and read this and get a chuckle or two out of something witty I say. Then, by word of mouth, I'll have millions of readers and become known for my awesome blogness. And yes, you heard this word first. On March 11th, 2010 at 1:51 AM, Eastern Time Zone, I coined blogness.

blog-ness [blog-ness] n :
1. The attribute contributed to an individual who excels in the act of blogging.
2. The attribute contributed to a blog that has a lot of activity, whether it be posting, reading, or speaking of.

So I'm sure if you googled the word, it'd come up somewhere. But has anyone defined it yet? Nope. That would be yours truly. So anyways, I'll try to post to the zero's of viewers I get on this thing frequently enough. So good day to you!